BPI's helpful bracket tips

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Bilas: TCU is over-seeded in NCAA tourney (0:33)

Jay Bilas joins SportsNation during the Tournament Challenge Marathon and says that TCU is not necessarily overrated but they're "over-seeded" explaining that the loss of point guard Jaylen Fisher played a role. (0:33)

I bring it up because sometimes the goal of a March Madness bracket can be lost in the exercise. We aren't trying to maximize our projected number of correct picks -- we're trying to win. And that can sometimes look like two different things.

While we might like to be certain in our convictions, the reality is that we don't know who is going to win any game. And so we have to examine the probabilities and take a stab at the chance of certain events happening. That's where we've got your back with the Basketball Power Index, our predictive model with (hopefully) all the answers ahead of this year's NCAA tournament.

We don't know who our competitors will select until the bracket is locked, but we can take a guess by using the handy Who Picked Whom page on ESPN.com. And that will be our guide today for some BPI value picks. We'll skip the obvious (Virginia is the favorite, duh) and assume you want to zig where others zag if you're here. General rule of thumb: the more participants in your pool, the crazier you should get. Here are some helpful tips to fill out your bracket:

If you want to stray from the favorites (but not too far)

Pick Villanova to win the NCAA tournament

Not exactly a sleeper, right? I couldn't have imagined Villanova as a value pick a mere week ago, but here we stand with only 14 percent of Tournament Challenge users picking the Wildcats to go all the way, as of this writing. That's well short of BPI's projection of a 21 percent shot to win.

The tournament has tipped off. Your picks are locked in. It's time to find out how your bracket is holding up. Check your brackets

Pick Davidson and Loyola-Chicago to win in the first round

Both teams have over a 40 percent chance to win but aren't being selected in as many brackets. Plus, it's a low-risk move: BPI is down on respective opponents Kentucky and Miami, anyway.

Send Gonzaga to the Final Four

The Bulldogs aren't as good as they were a season ago, but the committee conjured an easy path for them. They have a 24 percent chance to get to San Antonio.

Pick St. Bonaventure to beat Florida

Either St. Bonaventure or UCLA has over a 30 percent chance to beat the Gators; only roughly 15 percent of players think the Bonnies will advance.

If you want to get a little more adventurous

Pick Purdue to win the NCAA tournament

If Kentucky had played as well as Purdue this year, the entire country would be falling over itself to pick the Wildcats to win it all. Instead, less than 3 percent of Tournament Challenge users have the Boilermakers winning the title, despite them having a 10 percent shot of accomplishing the feat.

Pick Seton Hall to reach the Sweet 16

That's right, over Kansas. The Jayhawks aren't really good enough to justify their No. 1 seed. The same move could be made in the West region with Florida State over Xavier, but more people have taken that path.

Pick Houston to reach the Elite 8

BPI likes Michigan less than most -- it isn't going to overemphasize a late-season run -- so it doesn't think Houston's road to the Elite 8 is that tough. Of course, this involves getting past UNC, too, but we never said this would be easy. Only 4 percent of people think it could happen, but BPI says there's a 16 percent shot.

Pick Auburn to reach the Elite 8

More likely (20 percent) and more picked (10 percent) than Houston, but there's still value here. And more likely if the aforementioned Seton Hall upsets Kansas ahead of time!

You want to get reckless

Pick Cincinnati to win the NCAA tournament

Here's the thing: this isn't crazy at all. We think there's a 10 percent shot of the Bearcats stunning the nation with a win. Now you just need to be the one to stun your co-workers by showing them you saw it coming.

Editor's Picks

It's easy to just pick a Final Four and a champion. But how do you get there? That's where the Bilastrator comes in. He is here to take you step by step, line by line all the way to the title. When you win your pool, you can thank him.

With 16 more NCAA tournament games on Friday, there is an abundance of betting options. Andrew Lange and Seth Walder help you sift through the options and give their best bets on the games with the most value.

1 Related

Push Davidson into the Sweet 16, Seton Hall into the Elite 8 and Houston into the Final Four

Same picks as above, just more extreme. You have to go on a limb, here OK? Davidson has an 18 percent chance to win two games and the other two schools have a 7 percent chance to pull off their respective feats.

Pick Buffalo to defeat Arizona

DeAndre Ayton might be the next NBA superstar, but that doesn't mean Arizona is unbeatable.

Send New Mexico State to the Sweet 16

What? It's not like the Aggies have to play Clemson and Auburn in football.

BONUS: Pick Pennsylvania to beat Kansas

Only if you're feeling extra wild. Or if you're in a seed-multiplying pool, in which case the Quakers should be a mortal lock in your bracket.